And Chill

What’s New on Netflix in November

From left; Courtesy of Netflix, from Warner Bros./Everett Collection, by Jan Thijs/Netflix.

Sunrise, sunset; as the days get shorter and colder, there are a few endlessly re-watchable films and TV series leaving Netflix. (Haaaave you met How I Met Your Mother?) But not to worry: the streaming service is replacing them with intriguing prospects, like a new series from the mind of Spike Lee and an indie hit that lit up Sundance. Read on to learn the best of what Netflix is bringing to the screen next month—as well as what to catch now, before it fades into the black hole of the Internet.

Movies

What’s Arriving . . .

Michael Clayton

A whistleblower thriller with an ache at its heart, Tony Gilroy’s intelligent, gripping film feels like one of those movies they don’t make anymore—except it was only made 10 years ago. The film stars a perhaps never-better George Clooney as a cynical fixer, a lawyer who doesn’t practice law so much as he cleans up powerful people’s problems. When he gets embroiled in a scandal involving Big Agra and a detestable, yet pitiable, Tilda Swinton (in an Oscar-winning performance), he suddenly finds the weary conscience he’s been sublimating for years. Robustly entertaining and galvanizing in its own way, Michael Clayton is great for-grown-ups studio filmmaking. Plus, it features one of the best closing shots of the new century: troubled, ambiguous, and quietly hopeful.

The Homesman (11/5)

Unfairly overlooked when it was released in 2014, writer-director-star Tommy Lee Jones’s sad, bitter Western tells a forlorn story about hardscrabble life on the windswept frontier. As Mary Bee, a tough independent woman nonetheless longing for companionship, Hilary Swank is the best she’s been since her pair of Oscar wins in the late 90s/early 2000s. She and Jones—as a n’e’r-do-well who finds his moral way when he’s tasked by Mary to help her transport three insane women back east to civilization—have a warm and prickly chemistry, holding the center of this eclectic film as a roving cast of characters comes meandering through. (Including one played by none other than Meryl Streep.) Though it’s not an easy story—and features at least one seriously jarring plot turn—The Homesman nonetheless has a rueful grace to it, one that bears some reconsideration after its inauspicious initial release.

Mudbound (11/17)

A sensation at Sundance back in January, director Dee Rees’s big, rumbling, occasionally lumbering literary adaptation has serious heft. A story of race and class in the post-WWII Deep South, Mudbound perhaps tries to cram in too much from Hillary Jordan’s novel—the film is dense and long, yet not everything gets its proper consideration. Still, it’s a film of undeniable power, with commanding lead performances from Jason Mitchell and Garrett Hedlund, revealing talents I didn’t know he had. Once considered an Oscar sure thing, it will be interesting to see how Mudbound fares in the ongoing Academy vs. Netflix cold war. Regardless of its awards chances, Mudbound is a heavy meal worth digging into. Violent, angry, and tragic, it’s not exactly a feel-good family movie. But you’ll get enough of that at Thanksgiving, won’t you?

Piranha (11/20)

A complete piece of junk, yes. But sometimes you just need to see a severed penis get devoured by a murderous fish just before the holidays begin.

What’s Leaving . . .

Twilight (11/1)

We all got older. Kids grew up; 20-somethings became 30-somethings. Singletons became spouses. Couples became parents, became grandparents, became dead. Time has passed since 2008. Almost a decade. And now Twilight is leaving us, abandoning Netflix to go live its immortal life elsewhere. Because we have all gotten too old for it. So wave it one last goodbye, then watch it bound off into eternity—sparkling as it goes—while we mortals age ever more and darkness descends.

TV

What’s Arriving . . .

Alias Grace (11/3)

With four on-screen adaptations this year alone, Stephen King may be the author most dominating the pop-culture landscape in 2017—but Canada’s Margaret Atwood isn’t far behind. An adaptation of her novel The Handmaid’s Tale proved a major coup for Netflix’s competitor Hulu, making it the first streaming platform to score an Emmy for best dramatic series. Alias Grace, Netflix’s own six-episode Atwood mini-series, is unlikely to stir up as much awards-season buzz, but is nonetheless an engrossing adaptation of Atwood’s 1996 historical novel. The show and book follow Grace Marks (the mesmerizing Sarah Gadon), a real-life convicted 19th-century Canadian murderess who nonetheless keeps both the audience and her fictional interrogator, the Atwood-created Dr. Simon Jordon (Edward Holcroft), guessing as to her innocence and mental state. The six-part mini-series—made for the CBC, adapted by Canadian triple threat Sarah Polley (Away from Her), directed by Mary Harron (American Psycho—so she knows her way around an axe murder)—may not contain the genre elements of Handmaid, but its psycho-sexual themes are classic feminist Atwood. Polley has also packed this series with Canadian luminaries including Anna Paquin and married stage legends (and Slings and Arrows stars) Paul Gross and Martha Burns. A compelling watch for lovers of Canadian history, period dramas, and seductive, morally ambiguous leads.

The Punisher (11/17)

While we’re on the subject of morally ambiguous killers: Netflix will unveil its seventh Marvel Comics series in November, with The Walking Dead’s Jon Bernthal reprising his role as the brain-damaged, gun-toting Frank Castle from Daredevil Season 2. Deborah Ann Woll’s Karen Page is another familiar Daredevil face joining Bernthal, and ensuring that The Punisher will have a soft landing among fans of Matt Murdock’s show. Given Castle’s fetish for firearms—unlike Netflix’s other Marvel stars, he has no superpowers other than deadly aim—there was some question as to whether Netflix would delay the Punisher premiere in light of the recent (slash ongoing) national debate around gun control. But Netflix is plowing ahead anyway, and this series is, perhaps, the character’s best shot at on-screen fame. Bernthal’s supporting turn as the vigilante, who was previously played, with mixed success, by Dolph Lundgren,Thomas Jane, and Ray Stevenson, was well received by Daredevil fans. But the jury’s still out on whether Castle’s unrelentingly grim outlook and hair-trigger finger can carry a story all on their own.

She’s Gotta Have It (11/23)

In the latest salvo of what FX President John Landgraf called the “epic, titanic battle for talent” Netflix is waging against cable television, here comes the first TV series from writer/director Spike Lee. Based on his 1986 first full-length feature of the same name, She’s Gotta Have It stars DeWanda Wise (Underground) as Nola Darling—a character originally played by Tracy Camilla Johns.Anthony Ramos (Hamilton), Cleo Anthony (Extant), and Lyriq Bent (12 Monkeys) co-star as her suitors. Over 30 years later, Nola Darling still hasn’t decided which of the three very different men she likes best. But this time, the Brooklyn resident will have 10 half-hour episodes to make up her mind—or not. (The original film famously throws cold water on a neat and tidy happy ending.) Lee directed the entire first season, which will prove must-see viewing for any fan of Lee or the original indie movie—which is still taught in film schools as, among other things, an example of what can be achieved on a shoestring budget.

What’s Leaving . . .

How I Met Your Mother Seasons 1-9

If you are several years behind on your TV and still haven’t figured out how, exactly, Ted Mosby met the mother of his children, well, you only have a few days to catch up. What’s more likely is that the nine-season adventures of Ted, Robin, Marshall, Lily, and Barney have turned into comfort Netflix background TV, much the same way the show’s spiritual predecessor, Friends, has. The day Friends leaves Netflix forever is the day a million millennials will cry out in pain. How I Met Your Mother hasn’t enjoyed quite the same cultural resonance as Friends, thanks, in part, to the sour taste its emotionally manipulative finale left in the mouths of fa,s and how poorly Neil Patrick Harris’s womanizing, emotionally manipulative character, Barney, has aged in just three short years. Perhaps it’s not so legen—wait for it—dary after all.

Claire Underwood, House of Cards

She may have started out as Frank Underwood’s cool, if slightly icy, wife who stands on the sidelines, but Claire Underwood (played by Robin Wright) quickly transforms into the show’s stealthy Lady Macbeth with a chic pixie cut, delivering quiet, but shocking blows to her enemies. “I’m willing to let your child wither and die inside you,” she once said to a pregnant former employee. “Am I really the sort of enemy you want to make?” Not. At. All.

Photo: Courtesy of David Giesbrecht/Netflix.

Frank Underwood, House of Cards

Well, if it isn’t the most corrupt, murderous fictional president to ever step foot in the White House. Frank Underwood (played by Kevin Spacey) is basically a caricature of a dirty politician—he’s ruthless, manipulative, power-hungry, and violent, willing to do or say anything to stay at the top of the food chain. Get in his way and prepare to be bowled over—or shoved in front of a moving train.

Photo: Courtesy of David Giesbrecht /Netflix.

Vee, Orange Is the New Black

Orange Is the New Black is filled season to season with new villains, from the Season 1 terror of crazed religious freak Pennsatucky (who is, thankfully, reformed now), to Season 4’s sadistic guard who forces an inmate to eat a baby mouse. But none have had the perfect open and close villainy of Vee (played by Lorraine Toussaint) in Season 2, a manipulative force who will do whatever it takes to get people to do her bidding, whether it requires shallow sweet talk or a blunt smack in the head.

Photo: Courtesy of Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection.

Kilgrave, Jessica Jones

Kilgrave (played by David Tennant) showed us exactly what can happen when an incredible power gets into the wrong hands. The Marvel baddie had the power to control other people, a chilling gift he used to achieve violent ends.

Photo: Courtesy of Myles Aronowitz/Netflix.

Dr. Hunter Aloysius, The OA

He was a villain who swore he was doing work in the name of a greater good. Aloysius (Jason Isaacs) trapped literal angels in his basement for years so he could conduct scientific experiments on them—experiments that included killing them over and over and wiping their memories so they couldn’t remember what he did to them.

Photo: Courtesy of JoJo Whilden/Netflix.

Bryce, 13 Reasons Why

From Hannah’s perspective, technically everyone who got a tape is a villain of sorts. However, none were more insidious than Bryce (Justin Prentice), the jock who was not only your typical high school bully, but also later revealed to be a serial rapist.

Photo: By Beth Dubber/Netflix.

Rory Gilmore, the Gilmore Girls revival

We’re only kind of kidding. Sure, Rory (Alexis Bledel) was the precocious protagonist of the original series, but the all grown up version in Netflix’s revival is a bit of a narcissistic mess, consistently messing up career opportunities, sleeping with her married ex-boyfriend (although it takes two to play, Logan, you flawed, filthy rich philanderer) while straight up forgetting her actual boyfriend—poor Paul.

Photo: Courtesy of Saeed Adyani/Netflix.

Claire Underwood, House of Cards

She may have started out as Frank Underwood’s cool, if slightly icy, wife who stands on the sidelines, but Claire Underwood (played by Robin Wright) quickly transforms into the show’s stealthy Lady Macbeth with a chic pixie cut, delivering quiet, but shocking blows to her enemies. “I’m willing to let your child wither and die inside you,” she once said to a pregnant former employee. “Am I really the sort of enemy you want to make?” Not. At. All.

Courtesy of David Giesbrecht/Netflix.

Frank Underwood, House of Cards

Well, if it isn’t the most corrupt, murderous fictional president to ever step foot in the White House. Frank Underwood (played by Kevin Spacey) is basically a caricature of a dirty politician—he’s ruthless, manipulative, power-hungry, and violent, willing to do or say anything to stay at the top of the food chain. Get in his way and prepare to be bowled over—or shoved in front of a moving train.

Courtesy of David Giesbrecht /Netflix.

Vee, Orange Is the New Black

Orange Is the New Black is filled season to season with new villains, from the Season 1 terror of crazed religious freak Pennsatucky (who is, thankfully, reformed now), to Season 4’s sadistic guard who forces an inmate to eat a baby mouse. But none have had the perfect open and close villainy of Vee (played by Lorraine Toussaint) in Season 2, a manipulative force who will do whatever it takes to get people to do her bidding, whether it requires shallow sweet talk or a blunt smack in the head.

Courtesy of Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection.

Kilgrave, Jessica Jones

Kilgrave (played by David Tennant) showed us exactly what can happen when an incredible power gets into the wrong hands. The Marvel baddie had the power to control other people, a chilling gift he used to achieve violent ends.

Courtesy of Myles Aronowitz/Netflix.

Pablo Escobar, Narcos

Sometimes a show’s greatest villain can also be its star. Pablo Escobar (played by Wagner Moura) on Narcos is just that, and is based on the real life drug lord who got rich by peddling cocaine in Colombia, leaving a trail of blood and terror in his wake.

By Daniel Daza/Netflix/Everett Collection.

Count Olaf, A Series of Unfortunate Events

There are few things more villainous than committing yourself to a lifetime mission of killing children. Alas, that’s Olaf’s (played by Neil Patrick Harris) lot in life, a commitment that constantly requires him to take his cartoonish villainy to the next level, constantly disguising himself so he can finally rid the world of those damn Baudelaire orphans.

Courtesy of Joe Lederer/Netflix.

Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt may be a comedy, but it still has one of the most twisted plot lines around, thanks to the Reverend (played by Jon Hamm). He trapped Kimmy and three other women in a bunker for 15 years, forcing Kimmy to marry him and tricking all the women into thinking the world was on the verge of an apocalypse.

Courtesy of Eric Liebowitz/Netflix.

Cottonmouth, Luke Cage

He may be seductive, but he’s also a snake. Cottonmouth (played by Mahershala Ali) was one of the more ruthless overlords of Harlem, a man with a perilously short temper and an unquenchable thirst for the total destruction of his enemies.

Courtesy of Myles Aronowitz/Netflix.

The Demogorgon, Stranger Things

Dr. Martin Brenner, Eleven’s evil father, might seem like the obvious villain on this show. And don’t get us wrong, he’s definitely a villain . . . but, when push comes to shove you have to admit you would rather be up against him than the Demogorgon (played by a suited up Mark Steger), the horrifying demon-like creature who lives in the Upside-Down and feasts on both fear and flesh.

Courtesy of Netflix.

Dr. Hunter Aloysius, The OA

He was a villain who swore he was doing work in the name of a greater good. Aloysius (Jason Isaacs) trapped literal angels in his basement for years so he could conduct scientific experiments on them—experiments that included killing them over and over and wiping their memories so they couldn’t remember what he did to them.

Courtesy of JoJo Whilden/Netflix.

Bryce, 13 Reasons Why

From Hannah’s perspective, technically everyone who got a tape is a villain of sorts. However, none were more insidious than Bryce (Justin Prentice), the jock who was not only your typical high school bully, but also later revealed to be a serial rapist.

By Beth Dubber/Netflix.

Rory Gilmore, the Gilmore Girls revival

We’re only kind of kidding. Sure, Rory (Alexis Bledel) was the precocious protagonist of the original series, but the all grown up version in Netflix’s revival is a bit of a narcissistic mess, consistently messing up career opportunities, sleeping with her married ex-boyfriend (although it takes two to play, Logan, you flawed, filthy rich philanderer) while straight up forgetting her actual boyfriend—poor Paul.